On February 18, 2015, the DH@CC kicked off its inaugural event with Dr. Alan Liu’s provocative talk, “Key Trends in the Digital Humanities: How the Digital Humanities Challenge the Idea of the Humanities.” Thanks to the generosity of Pomona’s English and IT departments, the welcoming event was held at Rose Hills Theater.

Dr. Liu, an English professor at UC Santa Barbara, has been an active participant in DH debates, raising important questions about the nature and direction of DH. He is the author of Local Transcendence: Essays on Postmodern Historicism and the Data Base, and also wrote a pertinent article on the development of a DH landscape which is largely void of the kind of critical focus the humanities are born from. The article is titled “Where is Cultural Criticism in the Digital Humanities.”

Dr. Liu’s keynote talk, which is documented in the video below, addresses the general lack of humanist focus in much DH work and questions the meaning and purpose of data driven DH tools and projects. Dr. Liu also asks humanists who are new to DH, to consider the social and cultural implications of their future DH endeavors.

The following Friday was our Spring Symposium, a casual conference where 5C faculty and staff socialized, asked questions, presented DH related material and projects, and learned about key DH tools and topics. The morning began with a fantastic look at defining DH with Dr. Miriam Posner’s talk, “Framing Digital Humanities.”

Dr. Posner’s talk was followed by a series of faculty and staff presentations. Among them was a fascinating look at story mapping by GIS Specialist, Warren Roberts.

The generosity and hospitality of the Honnold Mudd library staff made the DH@CC Spring Symposium a well-attended success with over 50 participants. Thanks to the support of Kate Crocker and Ashley Sanders, the event was well announced, coordinated, and assessed. Library Dean, Kevin Mulroy, provided comfortable spaces and catered lunch, which also served as a platform for a Best Practices presentation.

Because the Honnold Mudd Library and its staff is already deeply vested in digital scholarship at the 5Cs, it will function as a central programming hub for the future of DH@CC. Honnold Mudd Library has a wide range of staff members who can provide support and guidance for DH@CC work.

Allegra Swift, head of Scholarly Communications and Publishing at the library, presented an important look at the implications of online publishing and distributing scholarly work. Allegra covered all things share-related from ethical responsibility to using citation management tools like Zotero.

The day concluded with an un-conference meeting that focused on the future of the Honnold Mudd Library “Green Room,” a space that will become the official DH@CC lab. A lively discussion was had over what kind of equipment would best suit the space. Many faculty were quite interested in practical tools like a projector and moveable white board. Fun and interesting possibilities also came up, like the “Mobile Maker Cart,” which features craft-like tools and an inexpensive 3D printer. It was also suggested during this discussion that, rather than filling the space with equipment which will need maintenance and support, event programming is an option. A highly favored suggestion included the possibility of an equipment loan program, where each of the 5Cs would take turns loaning an exciting tool to the DH@CC space. Programming would then revolve around the tool for an entire month; demonstrations and hands-on learning events would be the expected outcome.

Additional representations of the presentations that took place at the DH@CC Spring Symposium can be found here. This link is expected to grow as faculty and staff continue to provide ephemera from their talks.

This group provides an overview of what DH is and how it can enhance your research and teaching. Each week we will read several articles or book chapters, explore digital projects, and get our hands dirty as we learn how to use digital tools. Our discussions will interrogate the underlying epistemologies of the practices and theories we’re investigating that week, as well as how those tools and approaches support our scholarship and pedagogy, specifically.

Objectives:

Understand what DH is

Develop interest in a specific area that enhances your own work

Determine the next steps to explore that area further

Prepare you to lead your own discovery group within your college or in your broader discipline across the 7Cs

This reading group will also prepare you to submit applications for the Mellon-funded

Course Development Grants

Digital Humanities Summer Institute at the Claremont Colleges

This introductory reading group will be offered again in Fall 2015. Stay tuned for more details!

On February 18, 2015, the DH@CC kicked off its inaugural event with Dr. Alan Liu’s provocative talk, “Key Trends in the Digital Humanities: How the Digital Humanities Challenge the Idea of the Humanities.” Thanks to the generosity of Pomona’s English and IT departments, the welcoming event was held at Rose Hills Theater.

Dr. Liu, an English professor at UC Santa Barbara, has been an active participant in DH debates, raising important questions about the nature and direction of DH. He is the author of Local Transcendence: Essays on Postmodern Historicism and the Data Base, and also wrote a pertinent article on the development of a DH landscape which is largely void of the kind of critical focus the humanities are born from. The article is titled “Where is Cultural Criticism in the Digital Humanities.”

Dr. Liu’s keynote talk, which is documented in the video below, addresses the general lack of humanist focus in much DH work and questions the meaning and purpose of data driven DH tools and projects. Dr. Liu also asks humanists who are new to DH, to consider the social and cultural implications of their future DH endeavors.

The following Friday was our Spring Symposium, a casual conference where 5C faculty and staff socialized, asked questions, presented DH related material and projects, and learned about key DH tools and topics. The morning began with a fantastic look at defining DH with Dr. Miriam Posner’s talk, “Framing Digital Humanities.”

Dr. Posner’s talk was followed by a series of faculty and staff presentations. Among them was a fascinating look at story mapping by GIS Specialist, Warren Roberts.

The generosity and hospitality of the Honnold Mudd library staff made the DH@CC Spring Symposium a well-attended success with over 50 participants. Thanks to the support of Kate Crocker and Ashley Sanders, the event was well announced, coordinated, and assessed. Library Dean, Kevin Mulroy, provided comfortable spaces and catered lunch, which also served as a platform for a Best Practices presentation.

Because the Honnold Mudd Library and its staff is already deeply vested in digital scholarship at the 5Cs, it will function as a central programming hub for the future of DH@CC. Honnold Mudd Library has a wide range of staff members who can provide support and guidance for DH@CC work.

Allegra Swift, head of Scholarly Communications and Publishing at the library, presented an important look at the implications of online publishing and distributing scholarly work. Allegra covered all things share-related from ethical responsibility to using citation management tools like Zotero.

The day concluded with an un-conference meeting that focused on the future of the Honnold Mudd Library “Green Room,” a space that will become the official DH@CC lab. A lively discussion was had over what kind of equipment would best suit the space. Many faculty were quite interested in practical tools like a projector and moveable white board. Fun and interesting possibilities also came up, like the “Mobile Maker Cart,” which features craft-like tools and an inexpensive 3D printer. It was also suggested during this discussion that, rather than filling the space with equipment which will need maintenance and support, event programming is an option. A highly favored suggestion included the possibility of an equipment loan program, where each of the 5Cs would take turns loaning an exciting tool to the DH@CC space. Programming would then revolve around the tool for an entire month; demonstrations and hands-on learning events would be the expected outcome.

Additional representations of the presentations that took place at the DH@CC Spring Symposium can be found here. This link is expected to grow as faculty and staff continue to provide ephemera from their talks.

Division of Preservation and Access’ Research and Development
National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities http://www.neh.gov is proud to announce changes to the Division of Preservation and Access’ Research and Development http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/research-and-development grant program which address major challenges in preserving and providing access to humanities collections and resources. Recognizing that singular projects such as a case study or one-time experiment can have far-reaching implications, while longer-term projects demand ongoing planning, we have created for the first time two tiers of funding.

Both funding tiers support the development of standards, practices, methodologies, and workflows dedicated to the stewardship of humanities collections. Tier I, which is for projects up to $75,000, supports planning, basic research, and iterative tool development. Tier II, which is for projects up to $350,000, supports advanced implementation and applied research.

Also, starting in 2016, NEH will host an annual Research and Development Project Directors’ Meeting. The event will present NEH-funded projects and engage the public in a range of issues related to cultural heritage stewardship.

The newly updated program, with its combination of planning and implementation grants, is intended to motivate the cultural heritage community to form new partnerships; forge collaboration across cultural heritage, preservation, and the sciences; and to think broadly about how new standards, practices, methodologies, and workflows will help shape the work of the humanities now and well into the future.

To help inspire ideas for Research and Development projects, we have compiled a working list of humanities collection types, research topics, and fields for your consideration. Bear in mind, the list is by no means comprehensive or exhaustive; we always invite creative submissions in areas not listed below. Ultimately the applicants determine the trends in research and development.